


Crossed Lines

by carzla



Category: Devil May Cry, DmC: Devil May Cry
Genre: Crossover, Dimension Travel, Family, Fix-It, Gen, Post-Game, Twins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-04-13 23:47:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4542186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carzla/pseuds/carzla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While on a demon hunt, Dante ends up warped into Hell. Which isn’t all that startling. Except there’s something about the whole place that feels off, even more so than usual for Hell. Then he runs into an unconscious man who strikes him as familiar, and yet not. Surely Fate had better things to do than trying to mess with him again… Right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is a crossover between the classic _Devil May Cry_ and the reboot. I really wanted DmC's twins to get their happy ending, and stay together. But no, they had to go their separate ways and reboot Dante pretty much actually killed reboot Vergil so that we'd end up with the _Vergil's Downfall_ DLC. Sigh.
> 
> So, this is a fix-it set post-DMC4, post-DmC, and kinda near the start of _Vergil's Downfall_.

Typical demon hunting was starting to get a bit repetitive and boring. Not that Dante was truly complaining about getting jobs, ‘cause earning money was always a good thing, especially now that he’d paid off the ludicrous amount of debt that he “owed” Lady. Still, sometimes he wished there would be a job that was more challenging than the average demon cleanup.

He wasn’t talking about Fortuna levels of challenging, although that incident had definitely kept things interesting for a bit and well, it was always nice to find a new hunter… who could be a possible relative. Maybe.

Dante wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but there was just too much of a family resemblance between him and Nero for it to be a coincidence. Not to mention how Yamato had taken to the younger hunter, and how Nero also had something like a near instinctual knowledge on how to use the sword. As far as Dante knew, Nero hadn’t encountered Yamato before. So even though not all of Yamato’s abilities had been used against him when he’d fought the kid back then, Nero had had a startling amount of competency with the sword that seemed entirely natural, like he was _meant_ to use it, in the short time he had gained it before meeting Dante again. Regardless of the kid’s true origins though, to Dante, he _was_ family.

(Frankly, Dante did _not_ want to contemplate what brother dearest got up to in the year he went abruptly missing before showing up to raise Hell.)

Hmm… if things continued to be slow around the Devil May Cry, he might swing by to visit the kid. Not that Nero would entirely appreciate it, he figured. But, whatever. It was a free country. He could go wherever he pleased, whenever he chose. Plus, annoying the kid was actually kind of a fun thing to do. Maybe he could even provoke a fight and get something closer to a real workout! _That_ would undoubtedly be fun.

So anyway, cleaning up the last of this particular demon horde was easy pie. He hadn’t even broken a sweat, nor used Rebellion for more than a few swings. Ebony and Ivory were more than satisfactory against this bunch. Then he noticed the tail end of some sort of black coat or cape disappearing round the bend of the alley. Huh, a straggler that was smart enough to attempt retreat. That was rare. Most demons were hardly more organized than deciding to amass and emerge into the human world to cause chaos. More complex activities often required a higher-level demon being in charge.

He gave chase immediately. If this was the beginning of a larger scale demonic insurgence, then he needed to find out for certain. But when Dante rounded the corner, he only saw a fast-closing portal. Without further ado, he took a flying leap and disappeared into the portal just before it vanished.

Warping through this portal took some time. He had travelled through his share of portals and this one was taking the longest time ever. Still, it was nothing that he thought was particularly fishy. That was, until he came out of the warp hole and landed in what appeared to be Hell.

But something was… off. Different.

He couldn’t fully explain it. But all of his senses were definitely telling him that there was something _wrong_. Sure, there was _always_ something inherently wrong with Hell (it _was_ Hell after all), but this didn’t feel like the Hell he knew. Something about different energies or just something not quite tangible but was most certainly there for all that he couldn’t define it.

Then a horde of demons popped out from the ground, surrounding him, and he shoved those thoughts and feelings away. First things first, demon-slaying. Then he could figure out why this part of Hell was kind of giving him the creeps.


	2. Chapter 1

So he had unintentionally, but somewhat predictably, traveled away from his landing spot once he started killing the demons that had appeared. Oh well, he didn’t think it really mattered that much where exactly in Hell he was for now. He would probably need to find the demon that he had followed in to know why everything here felt kind of strange, and possibly, how to leave.

Dante wasn’t arrogant enough to think that he had traversed the entirety of Hell. Sure, he’d been inside the demonic underworld his fair share of times, but he was usually happy letting the demons be in their domain as long as they didn’t surface to cause problems in the human world. He knew, after all, that not all demons desired harm to befall humans or had inflated notions of world domination. In any case, this place didn’t look anything like the parts of Hell he’d been in. There were a lot of strange floating platforms, some of which disappeared at random moments, and sometimes, he felt that the surroundings of the large piece of rock he was standing on started to blur a little to form shapes but once he noticed it, the shapes faded back into bleak nothingness.

Then as if to prove to him that he hadn’t yet seen all the strangeness that this part of Hell could offer, something made him look upwards just in time to see a humanoid figure falling down towards him.

Silver. Blue.

Dante was reacting before he could even process _why_.

He jumped up, catching the man securely in his arms before landing them both safely on the ground. Looking down at the man, Dante realized that his unexpected catch (pun not intended) was unconscious.

The man had silver hair, which was messily matted down with sweat and a bit of blood, and it was covering part of his face. Then that image shifted and he saw silver hair slicked back into spikes instead, and for that instant, Dante’s breath caught. He blinked and the illusion vanished. But the man he was carrying still had silver hair, and on closer inspection, despite being unconscious, had a tight blue-gloved grip on a sheathed sword. A sheathed sword that looked suspiciously like Yamato.

But it couldn’t be. This man couldn’t be who those little details seemed to point to. This man was… young, younger than Dante was right now. Dante placed the man’s age to be in the range of the lower twenties at the very most. There were also subtle differences in the man’s facial features from his own. Not to mention that he knew for a fact that Yamato was safely with Nero, and he highly doubted the kid wouldn’t tell him if something had happened to it.

Even accounting for how Fate seemed to enjoy messing with his life in particular, it couldn’t, _couldn’t_ be Vergil. Just someone who had enough of a resemblance ( _and presence_ , a part of his mind supplied, _even more than **Nero**_ ) to throw him off for a moment.

Dante was beginning to _really_ dislike this portion of Hell he’d ended up in.

If some other deranged, power-mad devil had taken upon itself to create a facsimile of his brother to get to him like how Mundus had tried with Trish using Mom…

Then the man began to stir, cutting off his dark train of thought, and Dante reflexively tightened his hold on him. Whoever this person was, there was surely something significant about why he was here and why Dante was the one to find him. After all this time, Dante no longer believed in mere coincidences. Until he determined who this man really was, he wasn’t letting him out of his sight.

* * *

 

Awareness came back to him slowly, as if reluctant to let him leave the murky depths of unconsciousness. The last thing that he remembered was following Mother’s instructions to “head towards the light”. But despite fending off the demons determined to impair his passage, he hadn’t been able to depart Hell. Why? What followed was currently a little vague… There had been Kat? And Dante? Then he had fallen further, deeper into Hell before blacking out.

Where was he now? Vergil was about to open his eyes when he finally registered that he was being held by someone. He was instantly wary but decided that he would rather see who the mystery person (or demon, considering he was in Hell) was sooner than later.

With a little more effort than that which made him comfortable to admit, Vergil opened his eyes.

Silver. Red.

For an instant, he froze, tensing up as the impression of being stabbed through the chest seared across his nerves. But no, that was just a phantom sensation, an unpleasant sensory memory, and it was not actually relevant to his current predicament.

The man holding him _did_ have silver hair, but it was longer than his twin’s and in a different style. He also sported stubble and was definitely older than his twin. But there was this presence about the man that felt so much like-

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.”

Clearly this man possessed a similar, if a tad less vulgar, sense of humor than Dante.

Vergil narrowed his gaze, trying to determine the amount of danger he was in. The man appeared friendly, or at least acted like a non-hostile, but he had too much of a resemblance to his older twin at the moment for Vergil to not be suspicious of him right now. Not so soon after he had just been betrayed by his own twin.

He tried to move so that he could stand on his own feet, wanting to be further away from this man. But it only made the man tighten his grip, though not to the point of hurting him.

“Let go of me,” he demanded firmly, even as unease gathered in his gut at how easy the other man was making the task of immobilizing him seem.

Even accounting for the fact that he was currently injured, as a Nephilim, he should still be reasonably strong enough to forcibly get out of the man’s hold.

“Uh huh, not happening. You don’t look like you can keep yourself upright.”

“It doesn’t concern you. Put me down.”

“What do you mean- I probably saved your life when you fell from god knows where.”

“I would’ve been fine,” he insisted, and it was mostly true. He was one of the Nephilim, and could withstand far more damage than an untimely fall would’ve caused. “Your concern is not required.”

An exasperated expression crossed the man’s face. “You even _sound_ like him. Jeez.”

“Like who?”

The man arched an eyebrow. “Well, as you put it, it’s not your concern.”

Vergil was really getting Dante vibes from this man. It was disconcerting. Of course, it was at this moment when he remembered what had happened at the gates of Hell. He’d been distracted by Kat (an apparition, perhaps?) and then Rebellion had cut into him from the back and Dante was there, taunting him at the same time.

Kat could’ve been an illusion to distract him, but the sword… _That_ had been real ( _so very real_ ), and this man… This _demon_ could’ve been the one to!

“You were the one who prevented me from leaving Hell, weren’t you?” Vergil growled out.

(Because there was still a part of him that did not want to believe that it was his very own twin brother who had sent him down to Hell.)

He didn’t bother to wait for an answer, instead summoning a sword to impale the demon made to resemble his brother. The sword hit its target straight on and the demon finally dropped him, staggering backwards at the impact. Vergil had been expecting that and managed to catch himself on his feet, with only a slight waver belying the fact that he was far from being in top condition.

“Seriously, did you _have to_ ruin my clothes?” the demon grumbled, sounding more annoyed than being truly in pain from the sword embedded in his flesh.

He looked at the demon and was shocked to see that the other appeared to be perfectly at ease with being impaled by a sharp, pointy object. With even more shock, and slowly building dread, he watched as the demon calmly pulled out the energy sword and cast it aside. Then the demon looked at him, and his utter disbelief must have been showing on his face for the demon chuckled.

“It’ll take a lot more than that to faze me, much less kill me. As for your accusation, when I caught you, that was when I first saw you. I have no idea where you even came from. I’m looking for a way out myself, after I take care of some unfinished business.”

Vergil kept silent, quickly taking the time to better observe the demon. He was wearing an obnoxiously red leather coat that Vergil doubted his twin would even _touch_ , and he could see part of a sword hilt behind the demon’s head. What little detail that he could discern from his current position looked suspiciously like the design of Rebellion’s hilt. This demon was not an outright clone of his twin, but there was more than enough of a likeness in physicality, personality _and_ in his aura to put Vergil on his guard… and tug at his curiosity, however unwillingly.

“Who are you?” he asked eventually, when the demon made no other move, despite having been attacked, than to look back at him with a measure of assessment.

“Hey now, that’s a little rude of you. Shouldn’t you be telling me who _you_ are first?”

He gritted his teeth, but felt certain that if he refused, the demon would not speak either. Then they would get nowhere, which was not the point of his line of questioning.

“My name is Vergil.”

Had Vergil not been keeping a close eye on the demon, he would’ve certainly missed the quickly hidden widening of the demon’s eyes and the slight drop of that cocky smirk before it was confidently back in place. This demon knew of him then? He didn’t think that the news that more than one Nephilim currently existed had spread so fast.

“I’m Dante.”

“No.”

Vergil could not have stopped his reflexive denial even if he had tried. It had to be a sick joke that this demon shared the same name and an almost identical demeanor to his elder twin.

“A name’s a name, and Dante is mine.” The demon paused before adding, almost curiously, despite the flippant tone, “Does it mean anything to you?”

“…my brother…”

“Really? Well, then I’ll let you know that mine was called Vergil too.”

There was a silent stare-off. Vergil was trying to process the meaning behind the suddenly serious expression on the person’s face coupled with the words he’d heard. He wasn’t one to put much stock in gut feelings, but this one was too strong to completely disregard even for him. This other person was not lying. Yet despite the similarities this man shared with his twin, they weren’t the same person. But they did not seem to be completely different beings either. Unless…

“How did you arrive here?” he asked.

“Through a portal. I was chasing after a demon in the human world.”

“Was there anything different about the portal?”

“Not really, though the ride felt longer than usual.”

Vergil’s mind whirled as ideas and theories formed. Could it be that it had been a dimensional portal that this man had entered? That brought him into an alternate Hell without him realizing? He’d not heard about such a thing happening before, but it wasn’t impossible, just a highly unlikely event. Portals were tricky enough to ensure stability for travel within different realms of the same universe; traveling to an altogether different reality would involve lots of careful planning and effort to create a stable portal.

“If you’re anything like my brother, then that look on your face means that you know something. Mind if you share?”

“I think that the portal you entered left you in a parallel universe that has some commonalities with your own, but is not entirely the same. Such an occurrence would normally be improbable, but still not impossible.”

“So that would mean that you’re really my brother, but from another reality. That’s… actually better than what I thought.”

“And what did you think?”

“That another pompous devil decided that it would be fun to mess with me by creating a demon to look like Vergil, like how Mundus tried – and failed – with Mom.”

Vergil couldn’t suppress his snarl when he heard Mundus’ name. Mundus had cost him _everything_ , deprived him more than just his family. The now-dead demon had, most importantly, cost him his relationship with his elder twin, setting them on opposing sides when they were meant to stand together. To rule together. Always.

He silenced the quiet, almost timid, voice in his mind that said he just wanted to _be_ together with his brother.

“Mundus was dealt with here too, then,” the man, who was most likely his brother from an alternate universe, asserted with a hint of dark satisfaction in his voice.

Vergil was still guarded against this man though, despite sharing similar feelings of dark pleasure about Mundus’ demise in more than one world. An alternate universe version of Dante, perhaps, but what were the similarities between this man and his actual brother… and what were the differences? A part of him was almost instinctually trusting of the man once his identity had been determined, but he’d beaten it back down with cold, hard logic. He would need to remember well that this man wasn’t the Dante he knew… and it wasn’t like he really knew his own twin all that well after all. Just look at where he’d ended up, and why.

“We killed him.”

* * *

 

There was a part of Dante that was rejoicing at how this person he’d found _was_ Vergil. Not his own elder twin brother, but was still a version of Vergil from another world. At the same time however, considering that he’d found this Vergil in an alternate Hell of all places, it didn’t seem to be a very good sign with what he’d already experienced in his own lifetime.

He was still extremely glad, however, that the other man was not a purposefully created demon, like Trish had been. Trish was now a very dear friend and he’d long forgiven her for what had happened when she was under Mundus’ rule. Nonetheless, such a tactic was not a prospect that he wanted to face again, and to have it be a copy of Vergil instead of Mom this time around would’ve been a lot worse. But as this Vergil had said (and no matter what had happened, Dante still trusted Vergil – _any_ Vergil – with figuring things out), while they were from different universes and he could already see some differences, there seemed to be enough similarities that made Dante cautious about how far the similarities really ran.

Had this Vergil abandoned him in this world and then resurfaced only to claim Dad’s powers? Why was this Vergil currently wandering in Hell? And injured at that? So many questions, but Dante didn’t know how to go about asking them. Vergil had always been a private person, and for all that they were technically brothers… They weren’t, not really. They were strangers who’d just met, and Vergil as the injured party was the more vulnerable of the two of them. Vergil would be more acutely aware of that last fact than Dante himself, and Dante was sure that any version of Vergil would hate being vulnerable in any sense of the word.

“We killed him.”

It did not escape him, the choice of pronouns that Vergil used. Vergil had said “we”, and Dante knew that Vergil meant that this universe’s version of himself had been involved. It gave him a bit of hope that events had gone differently here, that in this world, his family had not been broken and separated irreparably. It still begged the question though, why was Vergil wandering Hell alone and injured if he’d worked with his twin to defeat Mundus?

“Good. So where did I go then? You guys got separated?”

A bitter sneer twisted the other man’s face, and whatever little hope Dante had had evaporated like a drop of water under the unforgiving desert sun.

“Why don’t you try to guess?”

“I don’t know enough about the situation to begin,” he said carefully.

Then, out of nowhere, a third, masculine voice piped up. “Of course you don’t. But _I_ do, don’t I, Vergil?”

Off to the side, a man seemed to materialize from the fog that surrounded this part of Hell. He walked with purpose towards them, an unpleasant smirk curling his lips. There was something strange about this person though. He seemed faded, like a de-saturated photograph, and there was a rather sinister-looking aura flickering in and out of sight around him. There was still enough color for Dante to make out the red highlights of the man’s (demon?) coat, and the pair of monochromatically-coded guns held deceptively loosely in the stranger’s hands.

But perhaps what was most surprising, though, was Vergil’s reaction to this newcomer.

Vergil had taken a step back, and didn’t even seem to have realized it. His already pale complexion seemed to turn almost entirely white. Lastly, in stark contrast to the interloper’s relaxed demeanor, Vergil’s grip on Yamato would have broken any normal sword.

Dante had the sinking feeling that in this universe, Vergil’s ticket down to Hell had been _given_ to him by this universe’s Dante.

“…Dante,” Vergil said to the newcomer, his tone terse and strained.

The other man smirked, evidently noticing how Vergil sounded. “Not happy to see me, are you, lil’ brother? But I guess not, seeing as I kicked your ass just a while ago.”

Yup, Dante was now very certain about the circumstances that led to Vergil’s fall into Hell. Yet there was something wrong about the situation and it was bugging him. He was almost certain that he was looking at a facsimile of the Dante from this world, but he couldn’t say for sure that Vergil was seeing it that way. They were in Hell after all, and regardless of the world, Dante felt that he _could_ say for certain that Hell always wanted to screw with you one way or another. When he’d first arrived, he had noticed how the landscape around him would occasionally start to change and he wondered if it was because this Hell preyed on the person’s own fears and inner darkness, and materialized them.

He also couldn’t help but notice that, apparently, _Vergil_ was the younger one here. That was some pretty interesting food for thought which he would get to thinking about some other time, but it did explain the dynamic he was currently witnessing.

“I don’t have a brother anymore,” Vergil replied.

For all that the words were said coldly, Dante could read this Vergil pretty well. Compared to his Vergil, this version was still softer and less apt at hiding his feelings. There was still hurt coloring this Vergil’s every move, and to Dante, it was obvious.

“Cute,” the demon said with an amused snort. “You know, I was the one running away, living in the slums. You enjoyed a comfortable life. Look who’s on top now! You don’t belong anywhere. Guess that's why you’re here. Well… That and ‘cos I killed you.”

Hearing that was like a slap to the face, even though Dante already had his suspicions about how Vergil ended up in Hell over here. Yes, demons lied to make things hurt. But if the _truth_ hurt even _worse_ , then demons would be the most honest creatures a person could ever encounter.

This Vergil was not coping well with the illusory Dante (and gosh that was a mouthful) taunting him. It was looking more and more likely that this was how this version of Hell worked to break the poor souls that got caught in it. It wanted Vergil to systematically kill off all parts of his compassion and morality, and if Vergil went through with killing this demon, he would surely be one step closer to ruination.

Dante had failed to save his own twin, but he wasn’t going to fail another version of Vergil if he could help it. Firstly, though, Vergil had to be the one to recognize that it wasn’t truly his brother that was attacking him, and thus vanquish his foe that way.

The other demon drew his sword and Dante dashed forward, intercepting the blow that was meant for Vergil. There was no way he was letting this demon engage Vergil any further.

“Get away from him,” he growled out, as he twisted Rebellion to get the necessary leverage to knock the demon back away from him, and more importantly, from Vergil.

The demon skidded backwards from his blow, but appeared mostly unfazed by the interruption. Dante didn’t wait for its next move, and was already moving for a follow up when Vergil’s voice made him pause.

“What are you _doing?_ ” Vergil sounded positively murderous.

It was heartening to know that this Vergil still cared about his Dante, regardless of what he’d said to the demon moments earlier. But this also meant that Dante would need to explain his suspicions. Honestly, he was a little surprised that Vergil hadn’t figured it out. But he had to remind himself that this Vergil was younger, and apparently lived a pretty decent life after being separated. Not to mention hurt emotions tended to cloud ones logical mind too.

“That’s not your brother, Vergil,” he replied calmly, keeping his voice even and measured. “There’s a clear demonic aura surrounding him. Your version of Hell appears to like to manifest the things that can get to you most in an attempt to break you. That’s what I think anyway. Ignore how that demon looks like on the surface. I know you can see that it’s not your twin.”

“You’re being surprisingly protective about this version of me, Dante,” a fourth voice drawled.

He’d been expecting this, but even so, Dante could feel the tension ratchet up in his body. Hell had decided to take revenge by serving up a manifestation of his Vergil, of bloody course.

“Considering you were the one who killed me in the end,” fake-Vergil added.

Dante tried to ignore the almost inaudible inhalation of shock from the other Vergil.

“Y’know, I really hate it when demons think it’s a good idea to impersonate my family to mess with me,” he said, keeping his tone deliberately light even as he glared daggers at fake-Vergil who was steadily approaching. “You’d think that Hell would have better ideas now. I _have_ actually been there, done that.”

He strapped Rebellion back onto his back and then whipped out Ebony and Ivory, aiming one gun each at the two demons.

“Vergil, listen,” he addressed the other man. “That thing there is not your brother. It’s no more your brother than that one over there is mine. I know we’ve only just met, but please, trust me on this.”

Vergil looked indecisive. Though his hand had not left Yamato’s hilt since the beginning of this confrontation, he had yet to draw his sword.

“Look carefully, Vergil,” he continued to urge, still keeping a sharp eye on the two enemy demons. “That demonic aura around both them is so damn clear. I’m sure we’re all half-demons, but I get the feeling that we’ve never looked _that_ fugly.”

“No,” Vergil murmured, sounding more sure of himself now as he stared long and hard at fake-Dante. “We’re Nephilim.”

Good. It appeared that Vergil was finally seeing what Dante had seen, although that was some interesting word choice there. But clearly this Vergil hadn’t had the experience of cutting down something wearing the image of family. There was still too much hesitation in his stance. To be on the safe side, he knew he should probably be the one dispatching the fake-other-him. But Vergil would have to be able to fight like his life depended on it, to basically fight to kill, to be able to at least match fake-Dante. There was no way Hell would go easy on him, especially now that Vergil had wised up to the mind games.

Then the two demons charged at him. Seemed like Hell thought that he was the more serious threat here, especially if they still wanted to claim Vergil for the Dark Side. He wasn’t about to let _that_ happen, so let the demons focus on him all they wanted because they were going to get a huge ass-kicking coming. Dante refocused his attention on them, letting the bullets fly from his guns.

When both demons were within range, he switched out his guns for Rebellion. Rebellion cut in a wide, deadly arc around him, ready to draw blood. Fake-Vergil teleported backwards to avoid the slash, while fake-him brought out its own sword (which Dante noted absently that it looked pretty similar to his Rebellion) to parry. Taking the split second opportunity when he only had one opponent on him, Dante drew out Ebony and shot the demon thrice in the gut, taking great satisfaction at seeing blood spurt out, before flinging it aside, just in time for him to meet fake-Vergil head-on in a clash of swords.

“You really shouldn’t have picked Vergil to imitate,” he commented.

He didn’t wait for a response. There was no way this fake-Vergil was anywhere near the caliber of his brother. Besides, even if Hell _was_ drawing on his memories of Vergil, well. Dante had gained a few more years of experience since the last time he’d faced off against Vergil even if he were to take into account facing Nelo Angelo. Memories did not change, unlike Dante himself.

He forced Rebellion upwards, breaking the lock and getting in a shallow cut. Faster than the other demon could react, he took the opening presented to him, unleashing a series of rapid-fire thrusts with Rebellion, each one finding its mark on the demon before him. He could already tell that the demon was on its last legs, but to be sure it was going to die, he thrust Rebellion through the demon’s heart with his right hand while simultaneously using his left hand to draw Ebony and fire a shot through the center of the demon’s head at point blank range.

The illusory demon crumpled to the ground, and then faded out of existence.

After destroying the demon that was impersonating his elder twin, Dante turned his focus on the other interloper. Vergil was holding his own against the demon, but couldn’t seem to find an opening to make a decisive blow. Whether that was because this Vergil was still not up to full power or because the demon was wearing his brother’s face was debatable. Dante guessed it was a bit of both. Nevertheless, he wasn’t going to have Vergil kill this demon.

Better safe than sorry, after all.

Without giving either of them a chance to react, Dante stabbed the illusory demon through the back with Rebellion. “Adios, sucker.”

With a twist, he drew out Rebellion from the side, perpendicular to the entry point. The demon crumbled into ashes that dissipated with a light gust of wind. That left him face-to-face with a shocked looking Vergil, who quickly schooled his expression back into neutrality.

He was left with the feeling that he’d made a misstep somewhere.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a relatively quick update, but please do not think this is the norm. I had the beginning of this fic languishing in my hard drive for maybe 2 years before a sudden surge of inspiration prompted me to continue it. So some parts were already written beforehand.
> 
> *looks at her languishing post-DMC4 fic* Yeah well, here's hoping my inspiration surge lasts long enough to get more things written for this...

Vergil’s mind was in overdrive. With the help of this other Dante, he had managed to see through Hell’s elaborate and cruel illusion. It wasn’t really his elder twin brother taunting him and wanting to kill him yet again. But it didn't truly make fighting the demon easier. His last fight with his real twin was still too fresh in his mind, and to his chagrin, he still found himself reluctant to fight with the intention to kill, even though logically this was _not_ his Dante.

Then there were the words the second illusory demon, who he guessed was a manifestation of the other Dante’s twin brother, had said. It seemed like he had also killed his own brother? Vergil wasn’t sure what to think, whether he should trust the words of a demon even though demons were prone to lying.

However, watching how Dante reacted to this new demon and witnessing his combat abilities firsthand, Vergil was left with the realization that this Dante was far more experienced than either him or his twin. Then there was the very efficient way Dante got rid of the other demon, as if he were entirely unaffected by how the demon was wearing his own brother’s face. It lent truth to the demon’s words that Dante had indeed killed his own Vergil in his world.

This left him in a very dangerous, very vulnerable position and Vergil hated it.

He hated not knowing if he could trust this highly-skilled individual whom he’d just met and was very likely to be his twin brother from an alternate universe. He hated that in his current state, he was not going to be a match for this Dante, and he wasn’t even sure if he would be able to handle this Dante even if he weren’t injured. But mostly, he hated how just the fact that this man was another Dante left Vergil feeling off-balanced, a mix of joy that some Dante out there seemed to care for him, and yet actual fear too. Because he didn’t know this Dante, and if he didn’t even foresee his own elder twin brother’s actions, how would he even know with any degree of certainty that this version of his brother would not turn on him the instant it was convenient?

He hadn’t really felt afraid in a very long time. And other than his Dante, this was the next best person to break him, because he was starting to feel safe with how protective this Dante seemed to be towards him. Yet seeing how this Dante had unflinchingly dispatched the demon wearing the other Vergil’s face… He couldn’t help but be reminded of his own fight with Dante, and how Dante had needed Kat’s interference to finally pull his blow.

Not that it had mattered much in the end. After all, he _was_ in Hell. It was a bitter, sobering thought.

He only just managed to school his expression to neutrality bare moments after the fake-Dante crumbled into ashes at the hands of the other Dante, leaving him face-to-face with said man. But he had the feeling he’d been a step too slow, and the other man had read his unease as clear as day. Without even being truly conscious of it, Vergil took a step back from Dante, Yamato held in a defensive stance in front of him.

“You good?” Dante asked him, as the other man casually sheathed his sword (Rebellion?) behind his back.

Vergil nodded slowly, unsure if his voice would work, or even just what would come out if he actually tried to speak. He followed Dante’s lead, albeit warily, lowering Yamato from a defensive stance and then carefully sheathing it at his side.

Objectively speaking, he was fine. Physically fine at least. Or, well, no worse for wear than when he’d encountered this Dante. His mental well-being on the other hand…

“You sure? That had to have messed with your mind. It’s normal to not really be okay, you know,” the other man persisted.

He wanted to say that he was sure that he was okay. He did not want to show any more weakness to this man, for he was already at a disadvantage. But when he opened his mouth, what came out was not what he intended to say at all.

“You killed him so easily.”

Dante’s face clouded over, and though Vergil did not specify which “him” he was referring to, he felt that Dante knew that he was referring to the demon that had impersonated Dante’s own brother.

“You heard that demon, didn’t you?” Dante asked, but did not wait for him to reply. “I know what you’re wondering about, and I think you already know the answer. There were extenuating circumstances, and I didn’t realize I was fighting my Vergil, but yes, I did end up killing him. That was almost ten years ago.”

“How can I even trust you?”

“If you’re anything like my Vergil, then it’ll take a good long while before you’ll trust me. I swear, if I’d known I was fighting against Vergil back then, I would not have killed him. Trust me, Mundus paid for all of it: capturing Vergil and torturing him into his brainwashed puppet. I just wish I’d actually managed to kill the bastard pig instead of just driving him back into the depths of Hell.”

Vergil could hear the raw pain Dante still felt over killing his brother, and the hatred he had towards Mundus. It was easy to put the pieces together.

“How did Mundus get a hold of your brother?”

“You sure like getting to the painful underbelly of the matter, huh?” There was a wry smile on Dante’s face, but he continued to speak. “Well, ten years before I drove Mundus out of the human world, Vergil decided to open up a portal to Hell so he could gain Dad’s power. We fought. He almost killed me to help me awaken my Devil, which was seriously _a dick move_. Then we got played by his backstabbing human accomplice who wanted Dad’s powers for himself, and actually _got it_. So we had to work together to kill him, and I thought maybe, _just maybe_ Vergil would come back with me afterwards. But he didn’t. We fought again, and then he made sure I’d let him go when he jumped further into Hell. I didn’t figure it out at the time, but he had probably found out that Mundus was responsible for Mom’s death and wanted revenge. Knowing Vergil, he probably tried to fight Mundus while injured, so I guess that was how he was captured.”

“So you never wanted to kill him…”

“ _No!_ He’s family. He’s _my elder brother._ Maybe I don’t like his choices, but I would _never_ have killed Vergil if I’d known it was him.”

The vehemence and conviction behind those words rang true to Vergil. He didn’t want to be swayed so quickly, when he had no tangible proof other than this Dante’s words, but… But he believed Dante’s story.

Vergil laughed. It was a sharp, bitter sound. “I guess you’re not that similar to my brother then.”

It hurt. It did. So much. To know that in another world, his brother hadn’t set out to kill him. Had disagreed with another-him’s choices, but wouldn’t have decided killing him was the best way out. He didn’t know if Dante had been separated from his Vergil, if they had had their memories altered… Maybe they’d always been together after being orphaned. Maybe that was why Dante did not want to kill his Vergil, because they had had a stronger bond than he had with his own brother.

“Ah man, screw it,” he heard Dante mutter.

Then he was wrapped up in a tight, warm embrace, and he stiffened reflexively in shock.

“Look,” Dante said, his voice slightly muffled by Vergil’s hair. “I know I spilled a lot to you, and if you don’t wanna share, I’m fine with it. I already have an idea about how you ended up here. You don’t need to tell me why if you really don’t.”

“…why are you hugging me?”

“Because I thought you needed it… and because I want to.”

“Don’t use me as a substitute.”

Dante chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’m not mixing you up with my Vergil. He’s not as cuddly, for one.”

He wanted to take offense, he really did. He was _not_ cuddly. But the hug was very comforting, and he realized that he hadn’t been so close to someone in a while. It left him more susceptible to the security he was feeling and though a part of him protested showing weakness, another larger part of him just wanted to bask. Even if this Dante did not turn on him in the future, he would surely return to his own world sooner or later.

“He tried to kill me,” he found himself saying, finding the words were easier to say when he wasn’t looking at Dante. He felt Dante tense up before relaxing again, as if consciously doing it to avoid antagonizing him further. It was a nice gesture.

“He tried to kill me,” he repeated. “I guess you could say that the stab wound was fatal after all. It was through my heart. We’d just killed Mundus and exposed the existence of demons to the humans. Then I told him that the path was clear for us to rule humanity.”

He paused there, knowing this was the point where his brother had reacted badly. To his surprise, although Dante had gone all tense again, the other man did not pull away.

“Why did you want to rule humanity?”

“Because they’re all so frail! And they need protection from the demons, and from themselves! I never planned on enslaving them, not like Mundus did!”

Dante hummed, sounding contemplative, and far calmer than Vergil had ever expected.

“You said you and your brother are Nephilim. So I’m guessing that Mom wasn’t human?”

Vergil startled. “No, Mother’s an angel. I’m half-angel and half-demon… Nephilim… You’re… not?”

He felt Dante shake his head. “I’m half-demon and half- _human._ Mom was human _and_ a badass demon huntress. I guess this could be why you don’t seem to understand that humans are actually a lot stronger than they look. Also, I can’t say I’ve encountered or heard of angels in my world. Guess that’s one major difference.”

Vergil’s mind boggled. This Dante had _human_ blood running through his veins. He was not Nephilim, and yet he was still so strong, so powerful. It went against a huge part of what he thought of, believed as truth.

“Your world sounds nastier than mine. At least in the sense that the demons had a stronger foothold in humanity, and there doesn’t seem to be any other hunters around to keep the demons in check,” Dante speculated. “But I’m sure you’ve come across some humans that held up to demons a lot better than you expected, haven’t you?”

…yes, he had. Kat was one of them, and a part of him knew that his brother had spoken the truth before they’d fought that fateful duel against each other. But Kat had seemed like an exception from the rest of humanity. One human woman wasn’t representative of the whole.

As if reading his mind, this Dante added, “Don’t write humans off so fast, Vergil. They’ll surprise you.”

Perhaps. But the more important issue now for him wasn’t that.

“You aren’t angry at me.”

Dante sighed. “Well, I reckon I’ve had more time than your brother to figure out how the minds of Vergils apparently tick. My brother chased after our old man’s powers, but it really only started after Mom died at the hands of Mundus’ minions. He constantly lectured me because I refused to seek Dad’s power and associate myself with anything demonic unless it was to kill them. Then the bastard disappeared on me for a full year. When he returned, he told me that might controlled everything, and without power, I wouldn’t be able to protect anything.

“I thought about his phrasing for a really long time after I lost him to Hell, and I’m pretty sure now that Vergil wanted to protect me by pushing me away. It was a twisted logic, but it worked, and I didn’t realize it until it was too late. Vergil had good intentions, but he didn’t understand that I didn’t like his methods, and that I didn’t need protecting. Plus, he opened a gate into Hell which would let loads of demons into the human world. Although, he might have chosen to do that so I’d be kept busy but relatively safer in the human world. I’ll never be able to ask him, but I think Vergil’s obsession with gaining power was because he thought he was weak for being unable to protect Mom.”

Dante paused there, pulling back to look at him in the eye. His expression was solemn, serious. Vergil had the feeling that this was not an expression Dante typically wore.

“The point is that knowing all of that about my Vergil puts me at a greater advantage than your brother at seeing through to _your_ motivations and how your perceptions may be limited,” Dante continued. “I won’t deny that my brother probably did think that most humans were beneath him, but his decision to open up a path into Hell had nothing to do with wanting to jeopardize humanity. That’s why I believe that you have good intentions regarding ruling humans, but that’s not something humans take kindly to. I’m half-human, so trust me on this. They’ll find their way to cope. I’ll bet some of them have already decided to become demon hunters. They also won’t take to a new supernatural ruler right after Mundus’ fall, you should know that. You’ll have a revolt on your hands. Not that I’m supporting you to try to rule humanity at any point in the future.”

He knew that he should just accept this information as it was, but it wasn’t in his nature to stop questioning… Even if the answer wasn’t going to be what he wanted to hear.

“But if you didn’t have all this time to process, would you…?”

“Damn, you sure like all the hard questions.”

Dante held on to him tighter then, and a moment later Vergil found out why.

“With my brother, I told him that I was going to stop him… even if it meant killing him. I don’t think I was really serious and although Vergil forced my hand, I _didn’t_ land a killing blow, no matter what I’d said. I just… I just couldn’t do it.”

Although he had tried to pull back from Dante initially, as the other man continued to speak, Vergil stopped. He knew it was unfair to compare the actions of his Dante to his actual brother. They may be alternate universe counterparts, but they had vastly different experiences. This Dante and his Vergil had also known each other for longer. Their father hadn’t wiped their memory of each other, and it appeared that they’d stayed together even after being orphaned.

It still hurt though. In fact, it hurt even more, logic be damned.

“Father separated Dante and I after Mundus killed Mother. He wiped our memories to keep us safe. I only found out I had a twin brother after I regained my own memories.”

“Gee, that’s such a spectacularly _bad_ idea,” Dante said, sarcasm practically dripping off his words. “I mean, I was with Vergil after Mom died, and it didn’t really do jack shit in the end, but… at least I still had him.”

“Is that why he could so easily kill me? Because we’d only just met for a few days after more than a decade, and he didn’t even remember me or anything of our family until I helped him regain his memories. Is it?”

A part of Vergil was cringing at how vulnerable, how _whiny_ he actually sounded. But he needed to know, needed to hear how this Dante would rationalize it.

“I don’t know,” Dante replied, his voice pained. “I really don’t. I can’t speak for your brother.”

“He didn’t stop. I could tell that he wasn’t going to. Not until Kat begged him not to kill me. Then I left, made my way back to our childhood home, and then I ended up here, in Hell.”

They stood there in silence after he finished speaking. It wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward, and he could tell that Dante was processing his words. Vergil wondered if it was a shock to Dante to hear about what had happened between him and his brother. If learning that so much could be different across universes was surprising.

On his part, it felt good to have told this to someone, and he would probably not admit it to anyone else even on pain of death, but he was enjoying this sense of security he was getting from this Dante for as long as it lasted.

“Vergil, I can’t speak for your brother, not really. But if there’s any part of us that’s similar, then he’s probably regretting what he did.”

He wanted to protest that Dante didn’t know that, not for certain. But it was not being fair to the other man, who had been trying his best to make Vergil feel better from the moment they’d met. They were well and truly strangers, and yet, Dante had gone out of his way to help Vergil. Whatever other doubts he had about his own brother, whatever questions he wanted answers to… All of that was best left to ask the correct Dante.

Vergil took a moment to pull himself together before gently dislodging Dante’s arms. Dante let him go slowly, as if he were reluctant to let go. Vergil belatedly realized that the hug was also a way for Dante to find a measure of comfort. Yes, he had protested about being used as a substitute for the alternate-him, but it was unfair of him to say that. He could not imagine how he’d feel if he’d been deceived into killing his own twin and then years later, running into someone who could be said twin’s doppelganger.

“Thank you for… for all of that,” he said, a little awkwardly, but entirely sincerely.

“Yeah, well. I could help, no biggie,” Dante replied with a little shrug, looking slightly uncomfortable by the thanks he was getting. Then his eyes narrowed, gaze dropping to Vergil’s torso. “Wait, you said you were injured. Has the wound at least closed up?”

It hadn’t. Not completely.

“It’s fine.”

“Right. I’m sure it is. Let me see.”

He thought about protesting further, but decided against it. He was pretty sure this Dante was very stubborn and would persist until he got his way one way or another. It was for the best that Vergil went through this with his dignity intact. With a little sigh, he reluctantly undid part of his coat (he noted distractedly that the coat was torn at the entry point) to show the wound on his torso. It had healed up a little; it was no longer the raw, ugly thing dripping with blood and hurting more from his emotional turmoil than the physical pain. It still wasn’t closed however, some parts still oozing blood sluggishly, a testament to how deep the wound had originally been.

Dante made a strange noise in the back of his throat when he saw the still-open wound. Then he slipped a hand into his coat, dug around for a bit and then pulled out a green, star-shaped crystal.

“Here, use this,” Dante said, handing the crystal to him.

“Thank you,” he replied, taking the crystal and pressing it to wound.

Upon contact, the crystal dissolved into his wound, a green light shining briefly as the laceration sealed up fully to show unblemished skin. He breathed a little easier too, as the throbbing pain eased into nothingness.

“Alright, we should get out of here. Hell isn’t known for its hospitality,” Dante said once the wound was healed.

Vergil did up his coat properly as he responded, “Not yet. When I woke up here, my amulet was missing. I need to find it.”

“Of course. Any idea where it could be?”

“It might be where I first landed, and we could always question the demons.”

Dante grinned. “Good plan! Lead the way!”

They began their journey. Although Vergil wasn’t really familiar with Hell, he could still feel, faintly, the energy that emanated from the gates out of Hell. So he went in that direction, Dante following him without question.

It was interesting, traveling alongside this Dante. They journeyed in silence for the most part, having seemingly exhausted most of their words earlier. However, when they fought the demon hordes that intercepted them, Vergil saw for himself how Dante usually fought.

If anything, this Dante had a flashier style of fighting than anybody he’d met before. Or maybe it was just his bright red coat adding to the effect. In any case, Dante looked very much like he was having fun both fighting _and_ taunting the demons. Vergil had the feeling that age had somewhat tempered this Dante, and if he’d met a younger version of him, he would be as cocky – or even more cocky – than Vergil’s actual twin.

Then there was how he and Dante sometimes seemed to seamlessly flow into sync with each other. The demons didn’t last long when they found their rhythm, and the frequency of it happening increased as the number of battles they fought together went up. Would he be able to achieve something similar with his own brother?

Although… that was probably a moot point now.

Vergil wasn’t completely convinced that humans could really handle themselves without guidance. Especially with the abrupt reveal of the existence of the supernatural added to the mix. But in this matter, he would defer to Dante’s judgment for now. After all, the other man was part human, and probably did know more about how humans worked.

All in all, they were progressing at a faster rate than he would have alone, but just when Vergil thought they were finally at some place where he seemed to recognize, their progress was interrupted.

“Vergil!”

It was Kat’s voice that sounded from behind them, but when he turned around, he realized that this Kat was just another illusory demon. Which meant that this was likely to be the demon that had distracted him from the Dante imposter and thus caused him to fall further into the depths of Hell.

“Vergil! What are you doing with that demon?”

“Save it, demon. I know you’re not actually Kat.”

* * *

 

Dante was glad, _really glad_ to be traveling through Hell right now. Because he really needed to kill tons of shit and Hell was the perfect, guilt-free place for that. He had almost lost it when Vergil showed him his wound, a wound right above Vergil’s heart. A wound that another Dante had inflicted.

And it was a deep, ugly cut. It had already healed up some, Dante could tell. Which meant that originally, it had to be really deep. Fatal.

He had already known how this Vergil came to be in Hell. But he had come to realize viscerally at that moment that knowing was _very different_ from seeing it with his own eyes.

Damn it. He really wanted to beat the crap out of his other self.

Even when he’d fought against his Vergil, even when his Vergil had impaled him with Rebellion… Vergil had actually missed his heart by a hair’s breadth. Which had to be deliberate, because Vergil rarely did things without planning it out to the smallest detail. When they were both in full control of themselves, they’d never actually inflicted a wound on each other that would be fatal.

He tried not to be so deeply affected. But it was difficult, because he had lived through killing his Vergil, had lived on whilst still holding on to so much regret over that. He understood from this Vergil’s narration of his history that in this world, the twins hadn’t known each other all that well after having been separated for years. Their circumstances were different, and he didn’t know the story from this world’s Dante’s point of view. But he was just so mad! It wasn’t logical, but nobody had ever accused him of being logical. That was more Vergil’s shtick.

Nevertheless, he was pretty sure this Vergil would not take it kindly if he _did_ rage on his elder brother (and _that_ was still kind of a head trip, but Dante could ignore it). So it was a good thing that they had to stay in Hell a little while longer to look for Vergil’s amulet. He could let his aggression and anger out on the demons safely, and hopefully, his anger would’ve at least subsided into manageable levels when they returned topside. Regardless of his personal feelings towards this universe’s Dante, he did want to give this Vergil a chance to reunite with his brother. So that meant controlling his anger in case he throttled other-him on sight.

Still, he was almost deliriously thrilled at how he flowed into sync with this Vergil at times, the frequency of it happening increasing the more they progressed through Hell. It brought back memories of the times he and Vergil had fought side-by-side. Like against Arkham, and even further back, when they’d been orphaned and only had each other to rely on. Much as he enjoyed sparring against Vergil, he had loved it even more when they fought together as a unit. He hadn’t thought he’d experience something like this again. Dante knew without a doubt that he’d always treasure this memory for the rest of his life.

All was going well, until they bumped into yet another illusory demon. Dante didn’t recognize the woman the demon was mimicking, but clearly, Vergil did. What he did garner was that the woman whose face the demon was using was most likely human.

“Save it, demon. I know you’re not actually Kat,” Vergil snapped coldly.

Good. At least Vergil could now see through Hell’s shenanigans. However, the demon did not give up and still tried to continue pretending to be who it was not.

“Vergil, why are you doing this? Demons ruined your family, didn’t they?” Then abruptly, an ugly smirk broke out on the demon’s face. “Or is this how you react after being revealed to be nothing but a weak and pathetic man? You hide behind your masks and planning, but actually, you’re nothing. You couldn’t even achieve anything without Dante, could you?”

Okay, so maybe this demon wasn’t trying to pretend anymore.

“Where is my amulet?” Vergil demanded.

It was pretty impressive how Vergil came across as unaffected by the demon’s words. Dante didn’t think it was truly the case, but for now, he figured Vergil could handle it.

“Your amulet? Why would I have it?”

Vergil nonchalantly launched an energy sword at the demon that missed slicing it by a hair’s breadth. “Answer me. Or the next one ends up in you.”

Fear flickered in the demon’s eyes for a moment before it replied defiantly, “It’s been with you all this time. I don’t have it.”

There was something about the phrasing that bugged Dante. Like there was a half-truth hidden in there. Before Vergil could make good on his threat, he decided to interrupt.

“Alright girl, be straight with us. No riddles.”

“I don’t have it,” the demon repeated. “You-”

There was barely any warning sign before another figure came into existence behind the demon and ran her through with a ghostly sword. The female demon disappeared with a choked cry to reveal a demonic-looking copy of this world’s Vergil, and around its neck was an amulet with a blue gemstone. Dante was pretty sure that was the amulet Vergil was looking for.

“Well, Kat wasn’t exactly lying, was she, Vergil?” the new interloper commented. It pointed to the amulet as it asked, “Looking for this?”

“Hand it over,” Vergil growled.

“Why should I? This amulet grants unbelievable power. Power that you’re not worthy of wielding.”

“I see we’ll have to do this the hard way,” Vergil calmly stated. Then turning to look at Dante, he added seriously, “I’ll handle this. Do _not_ step in.”

He raised his hands in a sign of surrender. “Yes, sir-ree. Not stepping in. Jeez, you’d think it was a crime to help someone.”

Vergil actually rolled his eyes at him, and there was a tiny amused smile playing on his lips before the other man turned back to regard his opponent. Well, that was a job well done, if Dante didn’t say so himself. He liked how this Vergil had a sense of humor closer to Dante’s own.

The subsequent battle was hard-fought. Dante kept his word and stayed out of the way, even though there were several moments when he really wanted to step in. Nevertheless, Vergil was skilled with his sword, and Dante was pretty sure Vergil would prevail. He’d probably take a bit more time before he would reach the heights of swordsmanship that Dante remembered of his own elder twin, but he was very promising. He was also kind of amused that his Vergil’s dislike of firearms seemed to be some sort of universal constant.

That was until this Vergil suddenly teleported to his side and muttered, “Would you mind if I borrowed a gun?”

“Sure, have at it,” he replied, handing off Ebony to Vergil.

The demon was already on its last legs, and Vergil took his time before placing two carefully aimed bullets right through the demon’s heart in quick succession. The demon collapsed to the ground with a pained groan. Dante whistled, somewhat impressed and quite a bit gleeful, much like he had been when his Vergil had used Ebony in tandem with him using Ivory against Arkham. Then Vergil returned Ebony, muttering a quick thanks before teleporting to loom above his downed enemy.

Bending down, he reclaimed his amulet from the dying demon. “So, who is worthy now?”

As he raised Yamato for the finishing blow, the demon spoke, frantic. “I’m a part of you! Don’t!”

Vergil hesitated for a moment, before plunging Yamato down unerringly into the demon’s heart. It vanished into the ether.

“Yes, you’re a part of me – a weakness that I’ve overcome,” Vergil murmured, slipping the amulet around his neck as he spoke.

As soon as the amulet was secure around Vergil’s neck, it started to glow. The light expanded and enveloped Vergil in it. When it faded away calmly, Vergil was revealed to be standing there unharmed. But there was a more definite presence about him, as if a missing part of the man had been restored. Dante figured that the amulet was truly more than just a memento. He watched as Vergil gripped the pendant tightly in his gloved hands for a few more moments before letting it go, as if checking to make sure it was really there. Then Vergil unsheathed Yamato, slamming the tip into the ground with purpose. Demonic energy rippled over his figure, and as he straightened up, a doppelganger formed from Vergil’s shadow.

Huh. So it appeared that when Vergil Devil Triggered, he did not turn into a demon, and the amulet appeared to be the catalyst for that particular ability. Well, considering Mom was an angel here, maybe that was why there was a difference. It made Dante wonder if in this world, Vergil would have another form if he channeled angelic powers instead of demonic ones.

Vergil looked at his doppelganger for a few moments before releasing his Trigger, and the doppelganger faded. Then he made his way over to Dante, a quietly satisfied aura around him.

“Nice work,” Dante complimented sincerely. “Guess you’re okay with using guns?”

“I don’t usually carry one, but I don’t see anything wrong with firearms.” There was a short pause. “Besides, I was always curious about how it would feel to use Ebony or Ivory.”

For a moment, Vergil looked pensive and almost sad, as if he was thinking about another pair of guns that he would’ve liked to try to use. But then the look was masked, and Vergil said, “We’re very close to the gates. Let’s carry on. I don’t want to stay in this place a second longer than I have to.”

“Awesome! Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So writing about alternate universe twins having heart-to-heart talks turned out to be more fun than I expected. Okay, maybe not "fun" per se... But I did love giving reboot!Vergil some nice, warm cuddles from Dante. He totally deserves some.
> 
> Also if it reads like I'm bashing reboot!Dante, I'm trying to be as objective as I can when writing from classic!Dante's POV. And classic!Dante is not best pleased with the situation, colored by his own experiences as he is. But, this is a fix-it. So.
> 
> ...which is not to say I won't make the Dantes converse with their fists. And other assorted weaponry. xP


	4. Chapter 3

Their subsequent journey towards the gates of Hell was much less eventful. Sure the demonic hordes still came after them, but there was nothing as dramatic as being intercepted by demons that were out to mess with their minds. When they were finally in front of the gates and had the last barrage of demons all dead at their feet, Vergil paused.

He remembered that when he’d first arrived in Hell, he had been guided by Mother’s voice. Mother had said to head towards the light for there was where the exit lay. She had been right, although he had been waylaid. But now he wondered if it truly had been his mother. Why would Hell let anyone help him? If his mother was truly a captive in Hell, Hell’s denizens would not let her help, no matter how oblique the manner.

“What’s wrong?” Dante asked.

“I just remembered something. When I got here, there was a voice that guided me to the gates. It… it sounded like my mother.”

There was a look of surprise on Dante’s face, before it became a cautiously neutral expression. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but… it might not actually be your mother.”

“I know,” he replied. “I just… wondered.”

“Do you want to check?”

He thought about it. Hell had already shown that it was full of insidious treachery, and the probability that what he’d thought was Mother’s voice was really just an imitation meant to lure him in was very high.

“…no. I don’t.”

“Alright then,” Dante agreed easily. “Let’s go.”

Side by side, they walked towards the glowing gates and into the light beyond…

…

Vergil regained consciousness to find himself lying face down on top of Father’s and Mother’s grave in front of his childhood home. From the amount of sunlight, he guessed that the day was edging into evening; his usually impeccable internal clock was still out of whack. Carefully, he pushed himself up, finding that he no longer felt the pain from the stab wound. It would appear that what he’d encountered in Hell was all real and not a figment of his imagination.

“Hey, you good?” Dante’s voice sounded from behind him.

Standing up, he then turned around to see that the man he had met in Hell – Dante – was truly present. The confirmation was more comforting than he’d expected.

“Yes, I’m well. What are your plans?” Vergil asked. “Now that we’re both out of Hell.”

“I thought I’d stay for a bit. See the sights. Hang out with you.”

“You don’t need to return to your own world yet?”

“Nah, it’s okay. I’m in no rush, and there’s more than one demon hunter back home anyway. I’m pretty sure Lady wouldn’t mind the increase in business in any case,” Dante replied with a casual shrug. “What about you?”

Vergil thought about it for a moment. Before, he had plans on how to proceed post-Mundus. Those plans were clearly blown out of the water now. For the first time in a long while, he didn’t really have a clue on what to do.

“I… don’t know.”

“Well, then I suggest that you take a break for now. You _did_ just get out of Hell. You deserve to rest.”

When he took a little longer to reply to that, Dante wheedled, “C’mon, all work and no play makes you a very dull boy.”

He snorted. “A Nephilim with tyrannical aspirations, you mean?”

If Dante was surprised at his joking, he didn’t show it. Instead, the older man’s smile widened, pleased, as he replied, “You said it. I was trying to be nice.”

“I suppose I could use a break,” he agreed.

He would need time to figure out what he wanted to do. Especially if the humans did prove Dante right about their resilience.

“Awesome! Do you have a place to crash?”

“I do. Provided it hasn’t been destroyed by roaming demons.”

Without waiting for a rejoinder, he drew out Yamato and made a quick slice at the air. A portal rippled into existence, showing a neat apartment room.

“That’s a surprisingly useful ability,” Dante commented thoughtfully. “I wonder if that’s why Vergil kept winning hide-and-seek when we were little…”

Vergil felt a smile tugging on his lips at that offhand comment. He extended a hand towards the portal and said with mock-formality, “After you.”

Dante gave an exaggerated bow before stepping through. He followed after and with a flick of his hand, the portal closed behind them, leaving the both of them standing in his apartment. It was untouched and that was good, even if it were a little surprising. Vergil still didn’t know exactly how long he’d spent in Hell, and how that translated to the passage of time in the human world, but it did seem to imply that the humans had managed to retain some form of control even after the demons were revealed and now had opportunity to roam the real world when they were previously confined mostly in Limbo.

“Nice digs,” Dante said, sounding genuinely impressed. “How do you afford this place?”

“I design security software.”

Dante whistled. “Knew you had to be smart, but damn. Sure wish I could earn more money with demon-hunting. I still have some repairs that need to be done at the Devil May Cry.”

“Devil May Cry?”

“Oh that’s the name of my office. It’s also where I stay most of the time. It tends to see a bit of property damage ‘cause some of my friends are trigger-happy.”

It didn’t surprise him that this Dante kept friends with colorful characters and idly wondered if any of them existed in his universe. He toed off his shoes, setting them neatly on the shoe rack, noticing that Dante had followed suit. Although he left his boots haphazardly by the entryway. Vergil decided to let it be for now. Moving further into his apartment, he set Yamato down carefully on the sword rack before proceeding to strip off his gloves. They were filthy and almost certainly ruined. He debated internally over whether he should even attempt to salvage them.

“Hey, you got anything to drink here?” Dante asked from behind him.

He turned around to find that Dante had propped up Rebellion by the shoe rack and had shed his red coat. Said coat was hanging off an arm of Vergil’s couch. The neat streak he had was clamoring to do something about the disorderliness Dante had added to his otherwise impeccably maintained apartment. But there was something to be said for having proof that he wasn’t alone.

Instead, he gestured to the kitchen and said, “The kitchen’s over there. I should still have some beverages.”

“Great! Want anything?” Dante asked as he entered the small kitchen.

“If there’s still beer, I’d take a bottle.”

Dante made a sound that Vergil took as assent. Then he went back to considering the state of his gloves. They were probably a lost cause, and he had extras anyway. That decided, he discarded them, and then took off his coat. It too was dirty and there was still that tear in the front, but overall, it appeared to still be salvageable. So for the time being, he hung it up on the coat stand. After a moment’s consideration, he picked up Dante’s coat and hung it up as well to appease his neat streak.

That accomplished, he suddenly realized that Dante was taking far too long for what was supposed to be a quick raid of his fridge. He padded into his kitchen and found Dante staring into the open fridge, a vaguely lost expression on his face. Following the other man’s line of sight, Vergil realized that Dante’s eyes were fixed on an innocuous box of mint-flavored dark chocolate truffles. Dark chocolate was something that he greatly enjoyed, and _mint_ dark chocolate was his greatest guilty pleasure. He had an idea why Dante was looking so lost now.

Vergil wasn’t the only one seeing ghosts. In fact, Dante’s were more literal than his.

“Dante?” he asked tentatively.

Dante jerked upright and his blue eyes snapped to Vergil’s. “Oh hey, sorry. I got a bit distracted. Uh so, beer you said?”

He nodded, letting Dante fish out the last two bottles of the brand of microbrew he preferred from the fridge. As an afterthought, before Dante could close the door, Vergil reached into the fridge as well, and pulled out a punnet of strawberries.

“I don’t have ice cream, but do you want strawberries?” he asked acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

“Yeah. Sounds good.”

Dante sounded a little confused, but Vergil pretended not to notice. He busied himself with washing the strawberries and then setting them out onto a bowl. Then he returned to the living room where Dante had made himself comfortable on the couch, his legs propped up on the coffee table.

“You’ve got some OCD tendencies,” Dante commented with a smirk, his usual laid-back attitude back in place. He had evidently noticed that his coat was now hanging on the coat rack as was proper.

“I prefer to keep my living spaces neat,” he replied primly, setting down the bowl of strawberries on the coffee table. “Unlike you, it seems.”

Then he took the unopened bottle of beer, flicking the cap off expertly such that it flew directly into the bin. He caught sight of Dante’s raised eyebrow and smirked at the other man before taking a long swallow.

“Show off,” Dante muttered, but there was no heat in his voice.

They sat in companionable silence, drinking beer and helping themselves to the strawberries. Vergil idly noted that Dante was very enthusiastic about the strawberries and he mentally congratulated himself for that. It pleased him to know that these little quirks carried across universes, and was proving to be really helpful in trying to diffuse awkward situations.

“Thanks,” Dante said quietly when the strawberries were almost finished.

It could’ve been construed to be about the drinks and food, but Vergil knew otherwise. “You’re welcome.”

A few moments later, Dante had found the remote control for the TV and had switched it on. It tuned in immediately to a news channel, and Vergil realized with some surprise that it was the channel for the old Raptor News Network. Except, it wasn’t running the usual propaganda that tried to pass itself off as news.

The female newscaster on screen was reporting that investigations were underway for all companies owned by or affiliated with Kyle Ryder, Mundus’ human alias. A by-line at the bottom of the screen disclosed that an anonymous information dump had occurred on the Internet following the reveal of the existence of demons. That was something Vergil knew, because he’d been the one to set up the information dump keyed to automatically release all the information he had gathered about Mundus and the existence of demons in general to the public two hours after detecting that Mundus had fallen. What he hadn’t expected was that there were still incorrupt humans in the various law enforcement agencies who had taken the information and used it to launch the investigations. As he continued to watch the news, he learnt that the police were also now reviewing their wanted list to determine if the people on it truly deserved to be there or were put on as a result of not playing nice with the demons when they still had a hold over humanity. As far as Vergil could tell, it was still the same day as when Limbo crashed into the human world, so not much time had passed.

He was… frankly, really quite surprised. The release of information was strategic, something that he had planned to do all along. Timing it to do so automatically two hours after detecting that Mundus was dead had been to give him some time to update Dante on his plans and to prepare for the next part: for them to step up to rule the humans. Obviously the intended follow through with the information dump had not happened, but it seemed like the humans had done well enough in the aftermath. The other Dante had not been wrong.

“So,” Dante said, breaking Vergil out of his musings. “Seems like humanity’s responding pretty well to the situation. I’m sure that helpful _anonymous leak_ had something to do with it. You really planned ahead, eh?”

“Of course I did,” he replied. As if he’d go about ruling humanity without a plan in mind. That way lay disaster. “But as you can tell,” he continued, unable to keep some bitterness from leaking out into his voice, “It wasn’t all according to plan.”

“I notice your information dump didn’t include ways for most people to defend themselves against the demons.”

“The plan was to personally step in to… guide the humans. It was-”

“Strategic. Yeah, I figured.” Dante paused for a moment. “I know I said that you should take a break, but you _could_ send off the rest of the information now. They seem to have trusted what you’ve already given out so far.”

It wasn’t much work, honestly, to send out the information he’d deliberately left out. In fact, it could all be done quickly and easily in the comfort of his apartment. He could send it out and let humanity fend for itself. He didn’t have to step in any more. After all, he distinctly remembered his elder twin saying he would be humanity’s protector. Vergil still had his IT company, and had a substantial number of completed software designs in storage that he could set up to periodically release as updates to existing software or entirely new ones. He wouldn’t need to worry about money, or much of anything at all.

It wasn’t what he’d originally had in mind. Could it be enough though? He wasn’t certain.

“I’ll do it after dinner,” he said at last.

Dante perked up a little at the mention of dinner. “Dinner sounds great! Can we have pizza?”

Vergil shot him a semi-scandalized look. “Pizza does not constitute a balanced diet, Dante.”

“Well, I’m still alive, aren’t I?” Dante replied, gesturing to himself with a hand. “’Sides, it’s not like I’m fully human.”

He tried his best not to stare in horror at Dante. He was pretty sure the other man had just admitted to having a diet that comprised mainly, if not, _only,_ of pizza. He was also fairly sure that there were no vegetables, however processed, on those pizzas.

“You’re still half one, and that’s no excuse for having such a diet. We’re not having pizza.”

“Seems like you can be bossy too,” Dante commented, though he didn’t seem as put out as Vergil expected. In fact, it looked like Dante was trying to suppress a grin. “Alright, so if I can’t have pizza, what are we getting?”

“I am going to cook.”

There was silence for a long moment.

_“You can cook?”_

Vergil shrugged, privately finding Dante’s shock amusing. “Nothing fancy, but yes, I do cook. It’ll be far healthier than whatever takeout that can be found in Limbo City.”

“…are you actually paranoid that the food could be _spiked?_ ”

“It’s not paranoia. Mundus owned a company that produced a popular soft drink and one of its components was demonic sludge to keep the human populace docile.”

Dante made a face at that. “Okay, fine. Still can’t help but notice you said “human”, y’know.”

He rolled his eyes, a smile turning up the corners of his lips. “Now you’re just being difficult.”

* * *

In the direct aftermath of his fight with Vergil, Dante had been at a loss about what to do next. He hadn’t actually thought beyond what would happen after Mundus fell, and never would he have thought that Vergil would want to take Mundus’s place and rule. But he had to admit that he probably didn’t know Vergil all that well any more. They had spent more time apart than together and that could’ve changed the twin he knew from his memories, patchy as they still kind of were.

Kat had urged him to clear out of where he’d fought Vergil, and he went with her. Mundus was no more, but there were still demons around, and Dante was feeling… tired. Not physically, no, because ever since that last Trigger, he’d felt more supernatural energy coursing through him than before and it was keeping him slightly buzzed. He was, however, mentally drained, the last fight against Vergil was more draining than he cared to admit.

Once he and Kat were safely off the streets and in one of The Order’s still functioning bolt holes, Kat went to check up on the general state of Limbo City. Social media was exploding, it seemed. It wasn’t long before the news channels started coming up too, the smaller ones first, but it didn’t take long for Raptor News Network to get in on it, with a severe-looking female newscaster in place.

Humanity seemed to be taking it pretty well, all in all. Sitting on the couch, he felt proud in a distant sort of way. Then remembering that Kat had probably the most trying day out of the two of them, he hustled her to the bedroom to sleep.

“You need to rest,’ he said. “You’ve earned it.”

She looked at him, her gaze piercing, as if she could see through him. “You should get some rest too, Dante.”

“Nah, I’m still good. Gonna keep watch for a while.”

Kat looked at him for a beat longer, and he thought she was going to say something. Mention Vergil maybe. But then she turned away and entered the bedroom, and that was that.

Dante returned to the living room, and sprawled onto the couch, letting the sounds from the TV turn into white noise. Before long, his recollections of his fight with Vergil started to encroach on his mind. He tried to push them away, but they were persistent and so he gave in to them.

He was so, _so_ grateful that Kat had stopped him from finishing off Vergil. Yes, he had been affected by the increased demonic energies running through him due to being Triggered, and he’d already noticed that rationality was just that bit harder to retain in that state… But they weren’t excuses for what he’d almost done.

Perhaps it was because his mind had had time to process the fact that the block on his memories was gone, but as he sat on the couch, more memories started coming back to him. Yes, there were those of his family together and complete, of Mom and Dad… But most of them, the most vivid ones, were all of Vergil.

He could recall now that he’d always been the better fighter than Vergil. But he could also remember now why he strove to be better than his brother in that aspect… It was because he wanted to be able to protect Vergil.

What a good job he’d done about that less than an hour ago.

There wouldn’t be any way to adequately express his thanks to Kat about that. She’d saved him; she just didn’t know how much and in what way.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he was startled out of the semi-dozing state he’d ended up in. The TV had suddenly blared “Breaking News!” in a loud, and supposedly grave voice, and so he turned his attention to the screen. The news was now reporting that an anonymous source had dumped a huge amount of information on the Internet pertaining to the sudden appearance of supernatural entities, as well as damning information on Kyle Ryder – on Mundus – and his associates. Dante watched as more and more information was being sieved out to be shown on the news, and he knew on instinct that this was definitely Vergil’s work.

It felt like time had slowed to a crawl, almost like when he was Triggered, as he watched the news with rapt attention. He tried to discern if there was anything from what was reported that could lead him to know what his twin was up to. But he learnt nothing, and after the initial information leak, it was left just as it was and Dante had the feeling that this wasn’t all there was to Vergil’s plan. But there was no follow up to it, and strangely, that unsettled him.

Sometime later, Kat woke up and he was only peripherally aware of it. His attention was still focused on the news reels, mostly repeating broadcasts as humanity tried to make head or tails of their reality again. He heard her gasp as she had probably also put together that the information had to have come from Vergil. He gave her some time to process exactly what had been given out (and what hadn’t) before speaking.

“Kat… that was all Vergil, right?”

She nodded. “Yes, it’s his doing. I think he timed it to release automatically.”

“So he didn’t have to do it himself…” he said under his breath.

That meant after Vergil had disappeared, he hadn’t gone to some place to start spreading the information. That meant that Vergil could’ve gone anywhere. That meant that Vergil could be lying some place, alone, and bleeding out and Dante wouldn’t even know it, or even know where to begin to find his brother.

“…I’ll try to trace the source,” Kat offered.

It was good for her to offer, but he could hear the doubt in her voice about whether she’d be able to find anything. “It’s okay. I… I don’t think he’ll leave any tracks for anyone to follow. And it’s… been a few hours since the information dump, and there’s no movement from Vergil. I don’t think he’s going through with what he planned.”

He tried his very best to ignore the voice that said maybe the only reason for Vergil’s silence was because his younger twin brother was actually dead.

He continued watching the news, while Kat tried to work on the Internet to get more information than what was being reported. Dante had tried to get her to stop, in view of her still injured hand, but Kat had been insistent that she could do this without further injuring herself.

“Dante, I may not be able to hack as fast as I can with both hands, but this isn’t anything strenuous.”

So he had relented.

In any case, it seemed that the information that Vergil had held back on releasing were those that could help the general, untrained human populace protect themselves from demons. Sure, normal guns and knives worked on demons, but without combat training, the best way for humans to defend themselves would probably be causing a distraction and then running the fuck away. That required knowledge and use of magic, which was not commonly found anywhere.

Vergil may be the smarter one, but Dante could tell that this particular lack of information was deliberate, and probably what Vergil was planning to use to win over the masses.

The one thing he couldn’t understand was how Vergil had gotten into his head that _ruling_ humanity was the way to go. He couldn’t imagine the young boy from his memories wanting that; they had been content with staying at Paradise Mansion and letting the world go by around them. But perhaps that was just what it had been when they’d both been young and innocent. Then Mundus had happened, and they were separated. Vergil hadn’t revealed to him much of how he spent the rest of his childhood, and maybe therein lay the answer to the differences between him and his younger brother.

Fuck. He hadn’t spent this much time doing introspection in a good long while. With how most of his life had been, he’d always been the type to live in the moment and not think too hard about the future – if he thought about it at all. He always thought he was going to go out in a blaze of… well, it wasn’t exactly _glory_ , but he’d go down swinging against the demons and that would be that. But now, he seemed to have developed a sense of responsibility. He’d even declared that humanity was under his protection to Vergil. Talk about a change in pace.

But it wasn’t really this that was making him nervous, uneasy. It was how he had left things with Vergil. It was the uncertainty about whether he’d ever see his twin again. And if he did, what state would Vergil be in? And if he didn’t… would he ever know why?

The thoughts chased themselves round and round and round in his head, and he felt like he was going to explode if he didn’t get them to stop. He could still feel a residual buzz of demonic energy from his last Trigger and he came to a quick conclusion. He was going to kill some demons; it was the safest, most effective way of both expending that excess energy _and_ get his mind to shut up.

“Hey, Kat. Will you be okay here for a while?”

Kat looked up from the computer screen and seemed to notice his state of mind. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“…put up some warding or something. In case the demons find you. I’ll wait.”

After Kat had put up some warding symbols with her stencils and spray paints, Dante stepped out on to the streets. He resolved not to stray too far away, just in case. Then he turned his attention to finding some demons to kill.

When he finally returned to the safe house, his mind blessedly quiet after taking out the pack of demons he’d hunted down, the sun had already set. He’d stopped along the way to grab some food for himself and Kat too, and that had taken some time. He was glad that his newly-silver hair wasn’t really attention-grabbing, not when humans around the area liked to dye their hair in all the colors of the rainbow. Despite having their world turned upside down, none of the people he’d passed by batted an eyelid at his appearance, although he had been careful to have none of his angelic or demonic weapons showing when the humans were around.

He’d just stepped through the door when Kat called out to him, “Dante! Come here! You need to see this!”

He slammed the door shut, made sure it was locked and then sprinted to where Kat was in front of the monitor. “What is it?”

She indicated the screen for him to read the contents on it, but spoke as well. “This just hit the Internet. I’ve only just skimmed through it, but there’s information on charms, protective spells and warding against demons. I think it’s-”

“Vergil. He’s still alive,” he finished. The sheer amount of relief that coursed through him was surprising, as was the feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Vergil wasn’t dead. He wasn’t dead and that was good enough – _more_ than good enough – for now.

“Do you think you can trace this one?” he asked, hoping that he didn’t sound too demanding.

“I’ll try. But Vergil knows more about covering his tracks than I know how to uncover them. I… might not be able to find him.”

“That’s fine. Just… it’s the only lead we’ve got.”

Dante tried his best not to sound too disappointed, but he wasn’t sure if he succeeded. It wasn’t Kat’s fault. It wasn’t. Not to mention he remembered Vergil saying he’d made a fortune for himself by designing IT security software. So Vergil would definitely know how to cover his tracks better than the average person. Kat may have worked with Vergil, but Dante would bet Rebellion that Vergil kept things close to his chest.

“If I do find him,” Kat started to say cautiously, “What are you going to do?”

Good question, and one which he had no answer to.

“I’m thinking about it.”

What could he do if Kat managed to locate Vergil? Find him? Sure. But what then? Would Vergil even want to see him? Dante doubted it. He could still clearly remember Vergil’s parting shot. He wasn’t sure if he could ever forget it, no matter how much time passed.

_“I loved you, brother.”_

Loved. Past tense.

Their family bond had already been so fragile due to years of unwitting separation, and perhaps their last fight had broken it for good, before it could be strengthened further. But he had to try to reach out one more time. It was good that it didn’t look like Vergil was moving forward with his original plan. So even though Dante didn’t know what really caused Vergil’s change of mind, because he was quite certain both of them had inherited stubbornness in equal measure, maybe… Maybe it could work out okay.

Despite having declared himself as humanity’s protector, Dante truly dreaded the thought of having to face off against Vergil again. Once was more than enough. He would do anything to avoid it.

Anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun making Vergil and Dante banter! I may or may not have gotten the tiniest bit carried away. But now we get a bit of insight into what's happening with reboot!Dante too! I hope the POV changes aren't too confusing... Just wait until the two Dantes meet...


End file.
